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Good. Whole foods is a nice idea gone horribly wrong (horribly expensive)? I buy some stuff I cannot find anywhere else from WF, but I get the rest for half of

Good. Whole foods is a nice idea gone horribly wrong (horribly expensive)? I buy some stuff I cannot find anywhere else from WF, but I get the rest for half of what WF is asking next door.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
borisj 9y ago
If Whole Foods was in financial trouble before the acquisition, I don't imagine they'll be able to cut prices and maintain their quality. Something's got to give and I think it's going to be that "nice idea" you mention.
- skybrian 9y ago
  On the other hand, Amazon has deep pockets and is okay losing money for a while. So who knows?
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
- jedberg 9y ago
  Amazon could optimize the supply chain. The could also bring their technology expertise to minimize overhead (such as replacing all the cashiers with their "no checkout" system).
  - rifung 9y ago
    > Amazon could optimize the supply chain. I see this idea thrown around but why can Amazon do a better job than Whole Foods has already done? Can they combine the supply chain with their Amazon Pantry and get more cost sharing or something?
    - jedberg 9y ago
      Amazon ships a whole lot more stuff than Whole Foods. They have a fleet of trucks and even their own planes. Amazon is really a logistics company. Basically, they have a whole lot more experience moving things around than Whole Foods.
- cakedoggie 9y ago
  > I don't imagine they'll be able to cut prices and maintain their quality. So you think when someone buys them with lots of money, they can't cut prices? Um, what?
abritinthebay 9y ago
I hear this a lot, but for basic groceries (veg, etc) WF was never that expensive. The trouble is that everything else was, and they are masters of the upsell.
- hammock 9y ago
  WF sells many items at cost. Like fresh oysters. Many others at higher margins. Just like any other grocery store. What I like about WF is you can find organic of just about anything.
- ozi 9y ago
  Depends on the location, I guess. In Houston, WF is about twice as expensive for many common meat, produce, deli, and bakery items compared to stores like Central Market.
  - abritinthebay 9y ago
    Meat they’ve always been pretty pricy for, that’s true. Mostly because it’s all the more expensive types (grass fed, organic, unusual types, etc). It’s good value for what it is but more expensive overall.
koolba 9y ago
What exactly has gone horribly wrong? They made money hand over fist and established themselves as the place to grocery shop on a weekly basis.
- debaserab2 9y ago
  They were the place to shop for me until I started actually cooking on a regular basis. I just can't justify ingredients for a recipe adding up to the same cost as a decent restaurant would charge for the meal.
  - nemo44x 9y ago
    The truth is a decent restaurant has almost no margin on the main course food. The money is made on selling wine, cocktails and to an extent on starters and deserts. You're paying a premium for food that is expensive to produce. Good restaurants buy the highest quality foods and this cuts deeply into the margin. So yes, buying high quality food and cooking it at home will cost about what a restaurant charges you. You simply can not have it both ways. Either you want high quality food and will pay for it or you're buying low quality food at a premium with a nice brand on it or you're just buying cheap food which is of poor quality.
    - debaserab2 9y ago
      I buy non-organic vegetables and meat from my grocery store at a significantly lower price than whole foods and to be honest I don't notice a quality difference.
    - icebraining 9y ago
      Are you saying that the main course price doesn't cover anything except the cost of the ingredients? No salaries, rent, utilities, marketing, supplies or maintenance?
      - chiph 9y ago
        I believe what they meant was that the price of the meal brings them to break-even (ingredients, staff, rent, etc) and their profit is made via alcohol and meal add-ons (appetizers, deserts). I don't know enough about the restaurant business to know if it's true, but it sounds plausible.
surement 9y ago
> horribly expensive Where I live WF is cheaper than the Safeway next door for any items that are carried by both. The rest might be more expensive but higher quality (hence worth it for some people).
pbarnes_1 9y ago
It really depends where you live. WF in Portland, OR is a fair bit cheaper than WF in SF, for example. As an ex-pat I honestly can't shop anywhere else. WF is basically comparable to a normal sort of non-discount supermarket chain in Australia (Coles, Woolworths). I've checked out Trader Joes a couple of times but I'm not sure if I can do all my shopping there. Everything at Safeway is really low quality (?) and/or overly "American" (not really sure how to describe this :).
- seppin 9y ago
  > not really sure how to describe this filled with sugar

Good. Whole foods is a nice idea gone horribly wrong (horribly expensive)? I buy some stuff I cannot find anywhere else from WF, but I get the rest for half of what WF is asking next door.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

borisj 9y ago

If Whole Foods was in financial trouble before the acquisition, I don't imagine they'll be able to cut prices and maintain their quality. Something's got to give and I think it's going to be that "nice idea" you mention.

skybrian 9y ago
On the other hand, Amazon has deep pockets and is okay losing money for a while. So who knows?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
jedberg 9y ago
Amazon could optimize the supply chain. The could also bring their technology expertise to minimize overhead (such as replacing all the cashiers with their "no checkout" system).
- rifung 9y ago
  > Amazon could optimize the supply chain. I see this idea thrown around but why can Amazon do a better job than Whole Foods has already done? Can they combine the supply chain with their Amazon Pantry and get more cost sharing or something?
  - jedberg 9y ago
    Amazon ships a whole lot more stuff than Whole Foods. They have a fleet of trucks and even their own planes. Amazon is really a logistics company. Basically, they have a whole lot more experience moving things around than Whole Foods.
cakedoggie 9y ago
> I don't imagine they'll be able to cut prices and maintain their quality. So you think when someone buys them with lots of money, they can't cut prices? Um, what?

abritinthebay 9y ago

I hear this a lot, but for basic groceries (veg, etc) WF was never that expensive. The trouble is that everything else was, and they are masters of the upsell.

hammock 9y ago
WF sells many items at cost. Like fresh oysters. Many others at higher margins. Just like any other grocery store. What I like about WF is you can find organic of just about anything.
ozi 9y ago
Depends on the location, I guess. In Houston, WF is about twice as expensive for many common meat, produce, deli, and bakery items compared to stores like Central Market.
- abritinthebay 9y ago
  Meat they’ve always been pretty pricy for, that’s true. Mostly because it’s all the more expensive types (grass fed, organic, unusual types, etc). It’s good value for what it is but more expensive overall.

koolba 9y ago

What exactly has gone horribly wrong? They made money hand over fist and established themselves as the place to grocery shop on a weekly basis.

debaserab2 9y ago
They were the place to shop for me until I started actually cooking on a regular basis. I just can't justify ingredients for a recipe adding up to the same cost as a decent restaurant would charge for the meal.
- nemo44x 9y ago
  The truth is a decent restaurant has almost no margin on the main course food. The money is made on selling wine, cocktails and to an extent on starters and deserts. You're paying a premium for food that is expensive to produce. Good restaurants buy the highest quality foods and this cuts deeply into the margin. So yes, buying high quality food and cooking it at home will cost about what a restaurant charges you. You simply can not have it both ways. Either you want high quality food and will pay for it or you're buying low quality food at a premium with a nice brand on it or you're just buying cheap food which is of poor quality.
  - debaserab2 9y ago
    I buy non-organic vegetables and meat from my grocery store at a significantly lower price than whole foods and to be honest I don't notice a quality difference.
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Are you saying that the main course price doesn't cover anything except the cost of the ingredients? No salaries, rent, utilities, marketing, supplies or maintenance?
    - chiph 9y ago
      I believe what they meant was that the price of the meal brings them to break-even (ingredients, staff, rent, etc) and their profit is made via alcohol and meal add-ons (appetizers, deserts). I don't know enough about the restaurant business to know if it's true, but it sounds plausible.

surement 9y ago

> horribly expensive Where I live WF is cheaper than the Safeway next door for any items that are carried by both. The rest might be more expensive but higher quality (hence worth it for some people).

pbarnes_1 9y ago

It really depends where you live. WF in Portland, OR is a fair bit cheaper than WF in SF, for example. As an ex-pat I honestly can't shop anywhere else. WF is basically comparable to a normal sort of non-discount supermarket chain in Australia (Coles, Woolworths). I've checked out Trader Joes a couple of times but I'm not sure if I can do all my shopping there. Everything at Safeway is really low quality (?) and/or overly "American" (not really sure how to describe this :).

seppin 9y ago
> not really sure how to describe this filled with sugar